Korean Job Discussion Forums

[smols]

My boss is telling teachers when they leave our school that on top of the regular taxes we already pay we have to pay an inhabitance tax, which works out to be 20,000W a month. Has anyone else ever heard of this or have any good links to somewhere I could get help with it? Thanks
Sarah

[Blind Willie]

News to me... okay, sounds like bull to me, but I could be wrong.

[Zenpickle]

We pay a Residence Tax, but it's usually...

...lemme look at my last stub...

around 3,000 won a month.

[Gollum]

Ask your boss if he/she minds if you check whether they have been paying their taxes. Be sure to ask for their business ID number.

If they get nervous or defensive -- have fun with it.

[Son Deureo!]

I second Gollum's suggestion. This got me out of paying over 700,000 in "back taxes" last year. I needed to send proof of taxes paid to the IRS, of course.

[just because]

Inhabitance tax....

Make sure where you are living is habitable first

[maxxx_power]

Sounds like when I take my car in to get it fixed they tell me I need more "headlight fluid".

[Cogito]

[jordy]

I paid this at 10% of my monthly income tax so it came to very little. I was just doing some research on the Korea tax site and they also documented it there in their determination of taxes owed. So, it is a valid deduction, but at the rate you're paying, you're getting taken for a ride. Tell you employer that it should only be 10%, if anything. If he doesn't believe you, go to the local tax office.

[jordy]

I paid this at 10% of my monthly income tax so it came to very little. I was just doing some research on the Korea tax site and they also documented it there in their determination of taxes owed. So, it is a valid deduction, but at the rate you're paying, you're getting taken for a ride. Tell you employer that it should only be 10%, if anything. If he doesn't believe you, go to the local tax office.

[Grotto]

Tell your boss to stuff it up his rectum! There is no such thing. The only taxes you pay are income tax....period end of conversation

Your deductions should be income tax3.5%.....health insurance2%....utilities(varies)....pension4.5%(your boss matches your contribution)

inhabitance tax...does this come with a jar of vaseline and a request to grab your ankles NO such thing unless it is in your contract you dont have to pay it

[Dalton]

I found a description of the tax but I can't figure out for a fact who pays it.

The site seems to be saying that non-residents only pay income taxes which must be deducted from the source. Residents do their own filing.

My personal opinion is the same as Grotto's. One reason being that we'd all be getting this deduction if it were required whether the school paid it or not. Another reason is that it appeared to me that employers only deduct income tax period. And only in the case of non-residents. Any other taxes would require filing by the non-resident. This includes taxes on any other income earned in Korea.

It is 20,000 if you are paying 155,000 in income tax and live in a big city.
But your income would have to be 3,100,000 a month at 5% income tax rates.
________________________________________________________
7) Inhabitance Tax

Inhabitance tax is composed of two parts. One part is a poll tax where rates vary between 1000 won (for counties) and 4500 won (for large cities), depending on the residential address. The other part is the pro rata income part of the inhabitance tax, which is imposed on a person or a corporation who is liable to pay the income tax, corporations tax or the farmland tax. The amount of this portion of the tax is 10% of the income tax, corporation tax, or the farmland tax liability
_________________________________________________________
A. Income Taxation for Non-Residents

A non-resident is liable for tax only with respect to income derived from sources within Korea. Two methods of taxation are applied: global taxation and separate taxation.
Global taxation is applied to non-resident taxpayers who have a place of business in Korea or who have income from real estate located in Korea (excluding capital gains from the transfer of land or buildings). All domestic source income is subject to global taxation, except for the severance pay, capital gains and timber income, which are taxed in the same manner as they would be if earned by a resident. Withholding taxation is applied to each domestic item of income of non-residents who do not have a place of business in Korea and do not have income from real estate located in Korea.
___________________________________________________________

Source:KCCI

[justagirl]

Yeah, we had that inhabitance tax, but it's mailed to your residence! It's not collected by the school, and it's only 4,500 for a year. Your boss should not try to collect this from you, let alone try to rip you off for so much money.

I agree--at the end of a contract, you can stop playing "mr nice guy" and make sure you get what you want....after all, what are they going to do? Fire you?

Collect everything owed to you before you leave Korea, and don't let them keep any extra money unless stipulated in your contract (ie: housing deposit...if you were silly enough to sign one that had something like this). Or, I guess, you should leave money for the last bills--it's not fair to stiff your employer or the next employees with your bills.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Is it possible the guy was trying to collect a housing fee (building maintanance)?